Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCESSING
BACKGROUND
[0001] Carbonaceous product may be produced by various chemical
processes. Performance,
energy supply and environmental performance associated with such chemical
processes has
evolved over time.
SUMMARY
[0002] The present disclosure recognizes a need for more efficient
and effective processes to
produce carbonaceous product, such as, for example, carbon black. Also
recognized herein is a
need to sequester carbon dioxide. The present disclosure may provide, for
example, processes for
sequestering carbon dioxide into carbonaceous product.
[0003] The present disclosure provides, for example, a carbonaceous
product having a ratio of
carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms greater than about 3*10^-13. The
carbonaceous product may
be carbon black. Carbon atoms in the carbonaceous product may be exposed to
temperatures in
excess of about 1,000 C during conversion of a hydrocarbon feedstock to the
carbonaceous
product. The conversion of the hydrocarbon feedstock may comprise conversion
of biomethane
and/or additive hydrocarbon feedstock to the carbonaceous product. The
carbonaceous product
may be solid. Carbon-14 content may be achieved through securing digital
carbon-14 credits of
biomethane, and physical carbon-14 may not be present in the carbonaceous
product as made.
[0004] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a
production process, wherein for
every ton of input natural gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of carbonaceous
product and all
other products of the production process are reduced by more than about 3 tons
compared to
incumbent processes for producing the carbonaceous product and all other
products.
[0005] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a
production process for producing
carbonaceous product, wherein for every 1 ton of the carbonaceous product that
is produced, at
least about 2.0 tons of carbon dioxide (CO?) are removed from the atmosphere
and sequestered
within the carbonaceous product and the carbonaceous product, as manufactured,
subsequently
comprises carbon from the CO2. Manufacture of the carbonaceous product may
sequester carbon
dioxide (CO?) from the atmosphere, and the carbonaceous product may be carbon
black. The
production process may further comprise producing the carbonaceous product
substantially free of
atmospheric oxygen. The production process may further comprise producing the
carbonaceous
product with the aid of electrical heating. The production process may further
comprise producing
the carbonaceous product with the aid of a plasma generator.
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[0006] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a
production process, comprising a
biomethane process, a plasma process, and an ammonia process in one location.
The biomethane
process, the plasma process and the ammonia process may operate
simultaneously. The
biomethane process may produce biomethane, the plasma process may consume the
biomethane
produced by the biomethane process and produce a carbonaceous product and
hydrogen, and the
ammonia process may consume the hydrogen produced by the plasma process and
produce
ammonia. The production process may further comprise sharing waste heat
between one or more
of the biomethane process, the plasma process and the ammonia process.
100071 The present disclosure also provides, for example, a method
of processing, comprising
using wind energy or other renewable energy to generate plasma in pyrolytic
decomposition of
methane. The pyrolytic decomposition may include pyrolytic dehydrogenation.
[0008] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a raw
feed of tire crumb of less than
about 10 mm by 10 mm size, wherein the raw feed of tire crumb is provided into
a plasma process
as a co-feed with biomethane, biofuel and/or natural gas. The plasma process
may produce carbon
black.
[0009] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a method
of processing, comprising
converting one or more tires and carbon black to methane. The method may
further comprise using
the methane to produce carbonaceous product. The method may further comprise
producing the
carbonaceous product substantially free of atmospheric oxygen. The method may
further comprise
producing the carbonaceous product with the aid of electrical heating. The
method may further
comprise producing the carbonaceous product with the aid of a plasma
generator. The
carbonaceous product may be carbon black.
[00010] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a rubber
article having a ratio of
carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms greater than about 3*10^-13.
[00011] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a tire
having a ratio of carbon-14
atoms to carbon-12 atoms greater than about 3*10^-13.
[00012] The present disclosure also provides, for example, a feed of
biomethane comprising
greater than or equal to about 60% by volume of methane derived from a
biological source, wherein
a remainder of the feed of biomethane comprises impurities from a digestion
process and/or one
or more co-feedstocks, and wherein the feed of biomethane is used to produce a
carbonaceous
product. The one or more co-feedstocks may be (i) bio-based, (ii) not bio-
based, or (iii) a
combination thereof.
[00013] These and additional embodiments are further described below.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
1000141 The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity
in the appended
claims. A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present
invention will be
obtained by reference to the following detailed description that sets forth
illustrative embodiments,
in which the principles of the invention are utilized, and the accompanying
drawings or figures
(also "FIG." and "FIGs." herein), of which:
1000151 FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an example of a process in
accordance with
the present disclosure;
1000161 FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an example of a system in
accordance with
the present disclosure;
[00017] FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation and approximate description of
a furnace
process;
1000181 FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of an example of a process in
accordance with
the present disclosure;
1000191 FIG. 5 schematically illustrates certain advantages of a process in
accordance with the
present disclosure,
1000201 FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of an example of a plasma
process in
accordance with the present disclosure;
1000211 FIG. 7 shows a schematic representation of an example of a
conventional carbon black
process; and
1000221 FIG. 8 shows a schematic representation of an example of a
conventional ammonia
process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
1000231 The particulars shown herein are by way of example and for purposes of
illustrative
discussion of the various embodiments of the present invention only and are
presented in the cause
of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood
description of the
principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt
is made to show details
of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental
understanding of the invention,
the description making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several
forms of the invention
may be embodied in practice.
1000241 The present invention will now be described by reference to more
detailed
embodiments. This invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and
should not be
construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these
embodiments are provided
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so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey
the scope of the
invention to those skilled in the art.
[00025] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used
herein have the same
meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which
this invention
belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is
for describing particular
embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used
in the description of
the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the"
are intended to
include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise. All publications,
patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are
expressly incorporated by
reference in their entirety.
[00026] Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of
ingredients, reaction
conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be
understood as being modified
in all instances by the term "about." Accordingly, unless indicated to the
contrary, the numerical
parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are
approximations that may
vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the
present invention. At the
very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of
equivalents to the scope
of the claims, each numerical parameter should be construed in light of the
number of significant
digits and ordinary rounding approaches.
[00027] Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth
the broad scope
of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the
specific examples are
reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently
contains certain errors
necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective
testing measurements.
Every numerical range given throughout this specification will include every
narrower numerical
range that falls within such broader numerical range, as if such narrower
numerical ranges were all
expressly written herein.
[00028] Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in
the description which
follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned
by practice of the
invention. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description
and the following
detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not
restrictive of the invention, as
claimed. It shall be understood that different aspects of the invention can be
appreciated
individually, collectively, or in combination with each other.
[00029] Manufacturing is ever evolving into more sustainable and greener
processes. A green
process may refer, for example, to a process that reduces greenhouse gases
(e.g., such as, for
example, by at least about 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 50%,
75%, 90%, 95%
or 100% compared to an existing or incumbent process). Today there is a
renaissance of production
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methods with the next generation of green technology replacing older incumbent
technologies.
While some effect may be achieved by making new materials via green processes,
the most
powerful effect may be felt by replacing existing manufacturing technology and
existing products
with greener technologies that are not only greener but also cost competitive
and additionally
provide a useful product that performs as good or better than the incumbent
product.
1000301 The present disclosure provides examples of such systems and methods,
including, for
example, the use of plasma technology in the pyrolytic decomposition (e.g.,
pyrolytic
dehydrogenation) of natural gas to carbon black and hydrogen (also "plasma
process" herein).
Pyrolytic decomposition (e.g., pyrolytic dehydrogenation) may refer to thermal
decomposition of
materials at elevated temperatures in an inert or oxygen-free or substantially
oxygen-free
atmosphere (e.g., an oxygen-free environment or atmosphere may be, for
example, as described
elsewhere herein). Pyrolysis may refer, for example, to temperatures greater
than about 800 C.
Carbon black and hydrogen may be the useful co-products in this instance. A
core aspect of this
technology may be fewer CO2, SO, and/or NO emissions. As the technology
evolves, the true
spirit of the capabilities of this inventive technology may come to the
forefront (e.g., through
upstream and/or downstream configuration of the process). For example, the
process may include
upstream and/or downstream configuration in terms of CO2 reduction and/or CO2
net sequestration
(e.g., the most efficient process may entail upstream and downstream
optimization in terms of CO2
reduction, and indeed, CO2 net sequestration).
1000311 An ideal next generation green process may entail the sequestering of
CO2 into the form
of a carbonaceous product that is industrially useful, environmentally
friendly, and provides
products that are stable in the environment for long periods of time. The
resultant carbonaceous
product may (e.g., ideally) be recycled through multiple product lifecycles.
1000321 The present disclosure provides systems and methods for affecting
chemical changes.
Affecting such chemical changes may include making carbonaceous product (e.g.,
carbon particles,
such as, for example, carbon black) using the systems and methods of the
present disclosure. The
systems (e.g., apparatuses) and methods of the present disclosure, and
processes implemented with
the aid of the systems and methods herein, may sequester carbon dioxide. The
systems (e.g.,
apparatuses) and methods of the present disclosure, and processes implemented
with the aid of the
systems and methods herein, may allow continuous production of, for example,
carbon black or
carbon-containing compounds (also "carbonaceous product" herein). The systems
and methods
described herein may enable continuous operation and production of, for
example, high quality
carbon particles (e.g., carbon black). The processes may include converting a
carbon-containing
feedstock. The systems and methods described herein may include heating
hydrocarbons rapidly
to form, for example, carbon particles (e.g., carbon black). For example, the
hydrocarbons may be
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heated rapidly to form carbon particles (e.g., carbon black) and hydrogen.
Hydrogen may in some
cases refer to majority hydrogen. For example, some portion of this hydrogen
may also contain
methane (e.g., unspent methane) and/or various other hydrocarbons (e.g.,
ethane, propane,
ethylene, acetylene, benzene, toluene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
such as
naphthalene, etc.).
1000331 The processes herein may include heating a thermal transfer gas (e.g.,
a plasma gas)
with electrical energy (e.g., from a DC or AC source). The thermal transfer
gas may be heated by
an electric arc. The thermal transfer gas may be heated by Joule heating
(e.g., resistive heating,
induction heating, or a combination thereof). The thermal transfer gas may be
heated by Joule
heating and by an electric arc (e.g., downstream of the Joule heating). The
thermal transfer gas
may be heated by heat exchange, by Joule heating, by an electric arc, or any
combination thereof.
The thermal transfer gas may be heated by heat exchange, by Joule heating, by
combustion, or any
combination thereof The process may further include mixing injected feedstock
with the heated
thermal transfer gas (e.g., plasma gas) to achieve suitable reaction
conditions. The hydrocarbon
may be mixed with the hot gas to affect removal of hydrogen from the
hydrocarbon. The products
of reaction may be cooled, and the carbon particles (e.g., carbon black) or
carbon-containing
compounds may be separated from the other reaction products. The as-produced
hydrogen may be
recycled back into the reactor.
1000341 The thermal transfer gas may in some instances be heated in an oxygen-
free
environment. The carbonaceous product (e.g., carbon particles) may in some
instances be produced
(e.g., manufactured) in an oxygen-free atmosphere. An oxygen-free atmosphere
may comprise, for
example, less than about 5% oxygen by volume, less than about 3% oxygen (e.g.,
by volume), or
less than about 1% oxygen (e.g., by volume).
1000351 The thermal transfer gas may comprise at least about 60% hydrogen up
to about 100%
hydrogen (by volume) and may further comprise up to about 30% nitrogen, up to
about 30% CO,
up to about 30% CH4, up to about 10% HCN, up to about 30% C2H2, and up to
about 30% Ar. For
example, the thermal transfer gas may be greater than about 60% hydrogen.
Additionally, the
thermal transfer gas may also comprise polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such
as anthracene,
naphthalene, coronene, pyrene, chrysene, fluorene, and the like. In addition,
the thermal transfer
gas may have benzene and toluene or similar monoaromatic hydrocarbon
components present. For
example, the thermal transfer gas may comprise greater than or equal to about
90% hydrogen, and
about 0.2% nitrogen, about 1.0% CO, about 1.1% CH4, about 0.1% HCN and about
0.1% C2H2.
The thermal transfer gas may comprise greater than or equal to about 80%
hydrogen and the
remainder may comprise some mixture of the aforementioned gases, polycyclic
aromatic
hydrocarbons, monoaromatic hydrocarbons and other components. Thermal transfer
gas such as
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oxygen, nitrogen, argon, helium, air, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon
(e.g., methane,
ethane, unsaturated) etc. (used alone or in mixtures of two or more) may be
used. The thermal
transfer gas may comprise greater than or equal to about 50% hydrogen by
volume. The thermal
transfer gas may comprise, for example, oxygen, nitrogen, argon, helium, air,
hydrogen,
hydrocarbon (e.g. methane, ethane) etc. (used alone or in mixtures of two or
more). The thermal
transfer gas may comprise greater than about 70% H2 by volume and may include
at least one or
more of the gases HCN, CH4, C2H4, C2H2, CO, benzene or polyaromatic
hydrocarbon (e.g.,
naphthalene and/or anthracene) at a level of at least about 1 ppm. The
polyaromatic hydrocarbon
may comprise, for example, naphthalene, anthracene and/or their derivatives.
The polyaromatic
hydrocarbon may comprise, for example, methyl naphthalene and/or methyl
anthracene. The
thermal transfer gas may comprise a given thermal transfer gas (e.g., among
the aforementioned
thermal transfer gases) at a concentration (e.g., in a mixture of thermal
transfer gases) greater than
or equal to about 1 ppm, 5 ppm, 10 ppm, 25 ppm, 50 ppm, 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.1%,
0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%,
0.5%, 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.8%, 0.9%, 1%, 1.1%, 1.2%, 1.3%, 1.4%, 1.5%, 1.6%, 1.7%,
1.8%, 1.9%, 2%,
2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, 4%, 4.5%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, 12%, 13%, 14%, 15%,
16%, 17%,
18%, 19%, 20%, 21%, 22%, 23%, 24%, 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%,
33%, 34%,
35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%,
50%, 55%,
60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or 99% by weight, volume or mole.
Alternatively,
or in addition, the thermal transfer gas may comprise the given thermal
transfer gas at a
concentration (e.g., in a mixture of thermal transfer gases) less than or
equal to about 100%, 99%,
95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, 50%, 49%, 48%, 47%, 46%, 45%,
44%, 43%,
42%, 41%, 40%, 39%, 38%, 37%, 36%, 35%, 34%, 33%, 32%, 31%, 30%, 29%, 28%,
27%, 26%,
25%, 24%, 23%, 22%, 21%, 20%, 19%, 18%, 17%, 16%, 15%, 14%, 13%, 12%, 11%,
10%, 9%,
8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4,5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, 2.5%, 2%, 1.9%, 1.8%, 1.7%, 1.6%, 1.5%,
1.4%, 1.3%,
1.2%, 1.1%, 1%, 0.9%, 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.6%, 0.5%, 0.4%, 0.3%, 0.2%, 0.1%, 0.05%,
0.01%, 50 ppm,
25ppm, 10 ppm, 5 ppm or 1 ppm by weight, volume or mole. The thermal transfer
gas may comprise
additional thermal transfer gases (e.g., in a mixture of thermal transfer
gases) at similar or different
concentrations. Such additional thermal transfer gases may be selected, for
example, among the
aforementioned thermal transfer gases not selected as the given thermal
transfer gas. The given
thermal transfer gas may itself comprise a mixture. The thermal transfer gas
may have at least a
subset of such compositions before, during and/or after heating.
1000361 The hydrocarbon feedstock may include any chemical with formula C,1-
1,, or CnE1,0y,
where n is an integer; x is between (i) 1 and 2n+2 or (ii) less than 1 for
fuels such as coal, coal tar,
pyrolysis fuel oils, and the like; and y is between 0 and n. The hydrocarbon
feedstock may include,
for example, simple hydrocarbons (e.g., methane, ethane, propane, butane,
etc.), aromatic feedstocks
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(e.g., benzene, toluene, xylene, methyl naphthalene, pyrolysis fuel oil, coal
tar, coal, heavy oil, oil,
bio-oil, bio-diesel, biomethane, biofuel, other biologically derived
hydrocarbons, and the like),
unsaturated hydrocarbons (e.g., ethylene, acetylene, butadiene, styrene, and
the like), oxygenated
hydrocarbons (e.g., ethanol, methanol, propanol, phenol, ketones, ethers,
esters, and the like), or any
combination thereof These examples are provided as non-limiting examples of
acceptable
hydrocarbon feedstocks which may further be combined and/or mixed with other
components for
manufacture. A hydrocarbon feedstock may refer to a feedstock in which the
majority of the
feedstock (e.g., more than about 50% by weight) is hydrocarbon in nature. The
reactive hydrocarbon
feedstock may comprise at least about 70% by weight methane, ethane, propane
or mixtures
thereof. The hydrocarbon feedstock may comprise or be natural gas. The
hydrocarbon may
comprise or be methane, ethane, propane or mixtures thereof The hydrocarbon
may comprise
methane, ethane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, carbon black oil, coal
tar, crude coal tar,
diesel oil, benzene and/or methyl naphthalene. The hydrocarbon may comprise
(e.g., additional)
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbon feedstock may comprise one
or more simple
hydrocarbons, one or more aromatic feedstocks, one or more unsaturated
hydrocarbons, one or more
oxygenated hydrocarbons, or any combination thereof The hydrocarbon feedstock
may comprise,
for example, methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, natural gas, benzene,
toluene, xylene,
ethylbenzene, naphthalene, methyl naphthalene, dimethyl naphthalene,
anthracene, methyl
anthracene, other monocyclic or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon black
oil, diesel oil,
pyrolysis fuel oil, coal tar, crude coal tar, coal, heavy oil, oil, bio-oil,
bio-diesel, biomethane,
biofuel, other biologically derived hydrocarbons, ethylene, acetylene,
propylene, butadiene,
styrene, ethanol, methanol, propanol, phenol, one or more ketones, one or more
ethers, one or more
esters, one or more aldehydes, or any combination thereof. The feedstock may
comprise one or
more derivatives of feedstock compounds described herein, such as, for
example, benzene and/or
its derivative(s), naphthalene and/or its derivative(s), anthracene and/or its
derivative(s), etc. The
hydrocarbon feedstock (also "feedstock- herein) may have a composition as
described elsewhere
herein. Bio-waste/organic waste, recycled/recyclable products and/or other
such materials may
also be used as feedstocks. Such feedstocks may be converted or transformed,
as described in
greater detail elsewhere herein.
1000371 A hydrocarbon feedstock (also -feedstock" herein) may comprise a
feedstock mixture.
The feedstock may comprise a first feedstock (e.g., methane, natural gas,
biomethane or biofuel)
and one or more additional (e.g., second, third, fourth, fifth, etc.)
feedstocks (e.g., ethane, propane,
butane, pentane, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, naphthalene, methyl
naphthalene,
dimethyl naphthalene, anthracene, methyl anthracene, other monocyclic or
polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, carbon black oil, diesel oil, pyrolysis fuel oil, coal tar,
crude coal tar, coal, heavy
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oil, oil, bio-oil, bio-diesel, other biologically derived hydrocarbons,
ethylene, acetylene, propylene,
butadiene, styrene, ethanol, methanol, propanol, phenol, one or more ketones,
one or more ethers,
one or more esters, one or more aldehydes, or any combination thereof). A
given feedstock (e.g.,
the first feedstock, the second feedstock, the third feedstock, the fourth
feedstock, the fifth
feedstock, etc.) may itself comprise a mixture (e.g., such as natural gas).
The feedstock may
comprise at least one of the one or more additional feedstocks without the
first feedstock (e.g., the
feedstock may comprise ethane, ethylene, carbon black oil, pyrolysis fuel oil,
coal tar, crude coal
tar or heavy oil). The feedstock may comprise the first feedstock (e.g.,
methane, natural gas,
biomethane or biofuel) at a concentration greater than or equal to about 1
ppm, 5 ppm, 10 ppm, 25
ppm, 50 ppm, 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.8%,
0.9%, 1%, 1.1%,
1.2%, 1.3%, 1.4%, 1.5%, 1.6%, 1.7%, 1.8%, 1.9%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, 4%, 4.5%,
5%, 6%, 7%,
8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, 12%, 13%, 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%, 18%, 19%, 20%, 21%, 22%, 23%,
24%,
25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%,
40%, 41%,
42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%,
85%, 90%,
95% or 99% by weight, volume or mole. As an alternative, the feedstock may
comprise the first
feedstock (e.g., methane, natural gas, biomethane or biofuel) at a
concentration less than about
99%, 95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, 50%, 49%, 48%, 47%, 46%,
45%, 44%,
43%, 42%, 41%, 40%, 39%, 38%, 37%, 36%, 35%, 34%, 33%, 32%, 31%, 30%, 29%,
28%, 27%,
26%, 25%, 24%, 23%, 22%, 21%, 20%, 19%, 18%, 17%, 16%, 15%, 14%, 13%, 12%,
11%, 10%,
9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4,5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, 2.5%, 2%, 1.9%, 1.8%, 1.7%, 1.6%,
1.5%, 1.4%,
1.3%, 1.2%, 1.1%, 1%, 0.9%, 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.6%, 0.5%, 0.4%, 0.3%, 0.2%, 0.1%,
0.05%, 0.01%,
50 ppm, 25 ppm, 10 ppm, 5 ppm or 1 ppm by weight, volume or mole. In some
examples, the
feedstock may comprise the first feedstock (e.g., methane, natural gas,
biomethane or biofuel) at a
concentration greater than or equal to about 25%, 50%, 75%, 95% or 99%. The
feedstock may
comprise various levels of the additional feedstock(s). For example, the
feedstock may comprise a
second feedstock and a third feedstock. The feedstock may comprise the second
feedstock at a
concentration greater than or equal to about 1 ppm, 5 ppm, 10 ppm, 25 ppm, 50
ppm, 0.01%,
0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.8%, 0.9%, 1%, 1 . 1%, 1.2%,
1.3%, 1.4%,
1.5%, 1.6%, 1.7%, 1.8%, 1.9%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, 4%, 4.5%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%,
9%, 10%, 11%,
12%, 13%, 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%, 18%, 19%, 20%, 21%, 22%, 23%, 24%, 25%, 26%,
27%, 28%,
29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%, 39%, 40%, 41%, 42%, 43%,
44%, 45%,
46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or 99% by
weight,
volume or mole. As an alternative, the feedstock may comprise the second
feedstock at a
concentration less than about 99%, 95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%,
55%, 50%, 49%,
48%, 47%, 46%, 45%, 44%, 43%, 42%, 41%, 40%, 39%, 38%, 37%, 36%, 35%, 34%,
33%, 32%,
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31%, 30%, 29%, 28%, 27%, 26%, 25%, 24%, 23%, 22%, 21%, 20%, 19%, 18%, 17%,
16%, 15%,
14%, 13%, 12%, 11%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4,5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, 2.5%, 2%,
1.9%, 1.8%,
1.7%, 1.6%, 1.5%, 1.4%, 1.3%, 1.2%, 1.1%, 1%, 0.9%, 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.6%, 0.5%,
0.4%, 0.3%,
0.2%, 0.1%, 0.05%, 0.01%, 50 ppm, 25 ppm, 10 ppm, 5 ppm or 1 ppm by weight,
volume or mole.
The feedstock may comprise the second feedstock in combination with at least
the third feedstock,
the third feedstock being at a concentration greater than or equal to about 1
ppm, 5 ppm, 10 ppm,
25 ppm, 50 ppm, 0.01%, 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.8%,
0.9%, 1%,
1.1%, 1.2%, 1.3%, 1.4%, 1.5%, 1.6%, 1.7%, 1.8%, 1.9%, 2%, 2.5%, 3%, 3.5%, 4%,
4.5%, 5%,
6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10%, 11%, 12%, 13%, 14%, 15%, 16%, 17%, 18%, 19%, 20%, 21%,
22%, 23%,
24%, 25%, 26%, 27%, 28%, 29%, 30%, 31%, 32%, 33%, 34%, 35%, 36%, 37%, 38%,
39%, 40%,
41%, 42%, 43%, 44%, 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, 49%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%,
80%, 85%,
90%, 95% or 99% by weight, volume or mole. As an alternative, the feedstock
may comprise the
second feedstock in combination with at least the third feedstock, the third
feedstock being at a
concentration less than about 99%, 95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%,
55%, 50%, 49%,
48%, 47%, 46%, 45%, 44%, 43%, 42%, 41%, 40%, 39%, 38%, 37%, 36%, 35%, 34%,
33%, 32%,
31%, 30%, 29%, 28%, 27%, 26%, 25%, 24%, 23%, 22%, 21%, 20%, 19%, 18%, 17%,
16%, 15%,
14%, 13%, 12%, 11%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4,5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, 2.5%, 2%,
1.9%, 1.8%,
1.7%, 1.6%, 1.5%, 1.4%, 1.3%, 1.2%, 1.1%, 1%, 0.9%, 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.6%, 0.5%,
0.4%, 0.3%,
0.2%, 0.1%, 0.05%, 0.01%, 50 ppm, 25 ppm, 10 ppm, 5 ppm or 1 ppm by weight,
volume or mole.
The feedstock may comprise the third feedstock without the second feedstock.
The second
feedstock may be selected, for example, among the aforementioned first
feedstocks not selected as
the first feedstock and the aforementioned one or more additional feedstocks.
The third feedstock
may then be suitably selected from the remainder of the first feedstocks and
the one or more
additional feedstocks. The feedstock may comprise other (e.g fourth, fifth,
sixth, seventh, ninth,
tenth, Ilth, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, etc.)
additional feedstocks (e.g., at similar
or different concentrations). Such other additional feedstocks may be
selected, for example, among
the aforementioned first feedstocks and one or more additional feedstocks not
selected as the first
feedstock, the second feedstock or the third feedstock. The one or more
additional (e.g., second,
third, fourth, fifth, etc.) feedstocks may in some instances be referred to
herein as "additives." For
example, a feedstock may comprise a feedstock mixture comprising biomethane or
biofuel and one
or more additives (e.g., which may be hydrocarbon feedstocks as described
elsewhere herein, for
example, in relation to the one or more additional feedstocks). As described
in greater detail
elsewhere herein, biomethane or biofuel may contain a given level of carbon-14
isotopes. In some
examples, the one or more additives may also be bio-derived or recycled
products that were once
bio-derived as these may also have a similar (e.g., the same) carbon-14 to
carbon-12 ratio.
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Biomethane or biofuel may be combined with an additive which may also be bio-
derived, such as,
for example, biodiesel and the like, or which may be from petroleum products
(e.g., the additive
may be any of the hydrocarbon feedstocks described herein and may also be bio-
derived or
recycled products that were once bio-derived ), or any combination thereof.
Biofuel may refer to
(e.g., broadly cover) any feedstock (e.g., all feedstocks) described herein
(e.g., including
feedstock(s) that are from petroleum or fossil fuel-generated) that may be
used in a process of the
present disclosure (e.g., the plasma process) and that are additionally bio-
based and contain, for
example, between about 3*10A-13 and about 1 40*10A-12 carbon-14 atoms for
every one carbon-
12 atom (or have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms as described
elsewhere herein).
1000381 Different feedstocks may in some cases be replaced or mixed. This may
accommodate,
for example, variability in feedstock supply (e.g., decreasing availability of
a given feedstock;
and/or changing composition of natural gas, and/or other feedstocks such as,
for example,
landfill/waste gas, refinery gas streams (e.g., refinery off-gas), coal bed
methane, etc.). If a given
feedstock is predetermined, it may be provided separately or converted from
another feedstock.
Such feedstock conversion may be provided as part of the systems and methods
described herein
(e.g., as described elsewhere herein, for example, in relation to conversion
of bio-waste/organic
waste and in relation to conversion of a recycled/recyclable product). The
systems (e.g.,
apparatuses) and methods of the present disclosure, and processes implemented
with the aid of the
systems and methods herein, may be configured to allow the use of one or more
different
feedstocks.
1000391 At least a portion of the feedstock may be further converted or
generated by conversion
from another feedstock. The feedstock may be further converted or generated
through one or more
steps or stages. For example, one or more feedstocks for biomethane may be
converted to generate
biomethane. Examples of materials that may be used as feedstock(s) for
biomethane may include,
but are not limited to, sewage, sewage waste, sewage sludge, manure, forest
residue(s), agricultural
residue(s), waste crops, crop residue(s), crops, waste groceries, spoiled
food, and the like (or any
combination thereof). For example, a feedstock for biomethane may be sewage,
sewage waste or
sewage sludge as such material may be rich in digestible organic material and
also readily available
as a zero-value stream.
1000401 Biomethane may (e.g., typically) be produced via an anaerobic
digestion which may
(e.g., at this point) be considered a very mature process that is well
understood and continuously
improving via the addition of catalysts, exploration of new temperature
regimes in addition to the
continuous improvement of the enzymes and bacteria that are used to break down
the waste
products into methane, etc. The steps of anaerobic digestion may include
hydrolysis where
enzymes break down and liquefy the smaller molecules and additionally break
down the larger
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polymeric species. Acidogenesis may be a second step where the monomers from
the first step are
fermented to form volatile fatty acids. The next step may be where acetogenic
bacteria break down
the fatty acids from the previous step into useful molecules for
methanogenesis such as acetic acid
and hydrogen. The next step may be methanogenesis where bacteria take the next
step of
converting precursor molecules into methane and carboxylic acid. All of these
steps may require
specific reaction conditions including, for example, solution pH and
temperature.
1000411 Feedstock conversion may be configured to achieve a given
feedstock purity or
composition. For example, one or more conversion steps or stages may be added
to achieve a given
purity. A low purity feedstock may be used at least in some configurations.
For example, low purity
biomethane or biofuel may (e.g., also) be utilized in a process according to
the present disclosure
(e.g., in a plasma process as described herein). It may not be necessary to
remove, for example, the
nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and/or water that is
present in small
quantities in (e.g., along with the) biomethane or biofuel. For example, about
60% of the
biomethane or biofuel may be hydrocarbon in nature and the other impurities
may not significantly
affect the process
1000421 A recyclable product may refer to any end-use product that may be
recycled into
another product. For example, tires may be mechanically ground into small
particles that may be
used in asphalt and also in playgrounds or as other filler material. See
description of a tire in Mark,
Erman and Roland, "The Science and Technology of Rubber," 4th Ed.,
incorporated by reference
herein with respect to relevant portions therein.
1000431 Feedstock conversion may include, for example, thermolytic
decomposition. An
example of thermolytic decomposition which may optionally be accompanied by
anaerobic
digestion may include tire recycling (or tire recycle). The conversion of
tires into methane may
first begin with granulation of the tire through the use of a shredder. The
shredder may reduce the
size of the tire through several iterative steps to particles that are, for
example, less than 1 mm by
1 mm in size. This shredded material may be passed through a magnetic
separator to remove the
metallic components, and/or alternatively the bead and radial components of
the tire may be
removed prior to shredding. This organic material may be heated in combination
with a catalyst in
order to provide gaseous vapor comprising (e.g., some portion of) CH4 and
other volatile organics,
which may be used as a hydrocarbon feedstock in a process according to the
present disclosure
(e.g., provided directly into the plasma technology as the hydrocarbon
feedstock). Additionally,
the heat required for the decomposition of the tire crumb may be provided by
recycled heat or as
waste heat from the plasma process such that more full utilization of the heat
generated, for
example, during the conversion of the hydrocarbon feedstock to solid
carbonaceous product may
be achieved.
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[00044] The present disclosure provides heat integration of one or more of the
conversion steps
or stages (or processes) with each other and/or with one or more material
streams (e.g., flows)
to/from one or more conversion steps or stages (or processes). Heat
integration of one or more of
the conversion steps or stages (or processes) with each other may include heat
integration of one
or more material flows to/from such conversion steps or stages (or processes).
For example, waste
heat sharing between different conversion steps or stages (or processes) may
be implemented (e.g.,
waste heat may be shared between the process of generating the carbonaceous
product, and one or
more other processes).
[00045] The thermal transfer gas may be provided to the system (e.g., to a
reactor, such as, for
example, reactor 102 or 212 described herein) at a rate of, for example,
greater than or equal to
about 1 normal cubic meter/hour (Nm3/hr), 2 Nm3/hr, 5 Nm3/hr, 10 Nm3/hr, 25
Nm3/hr, 50 Nm3/hr,
75 Nm3/hr, 100 Nm3/hr, 150 Nm3/hr, 200 Nm3/hr, 250 Nm3/hr, 300 Nm3/hr, 350
Nm3/hr, 400
Nm3/hr, 450 Nm3/hr, 500 Nm3/hr, 550 Nm3/hr, 600 Nm3/hr, 650 Nm3/hr, 700
Nm3/hr, 750 Nm3/hr,
800 Nm3/hr, 850 Nm3/hr, 900 Nm3/hr, 950 Nm3/hr, 1,000 Nm3/hr, 2,000 Nm3/hr,
3,000 Nm3/hr,
4,000 Nm3/hr, 5,000 Nm3/hr, 6,000 Nm3/hr, 7,000 Nm3/hr, 8,000 Nm3/hr, 9,000
Nm3/hr, 10,000
Nm3/hr, 12,000 Nm3/hr, 14,000 Nm3/hr, 16,000 Nm3/hr, 18,000 Nm3/hr, 20,000
Nm3/lar, 30,000
Nm3/hr, 40,000 Nm3/hr, 50,000 Nm3/hr, 60,000 Nm3/hr, 70,000 Nm3/hr, 80,000
Nm3/hr, 90,000
Nm3/hr or 100,000 Nm3/hr. Alternatively, or in addition, the thermal transfer
gas may be provided
to the system (e.g., to the reactor) at a rate of, for example, less than or
equal to about 100,000
Nm3/hr, 90,000 Nm3/hr, 80,000 Nm3/hr, 70,000 Nm3/hr, 60,000 Nm3/hr, 50,000
Nm3/hr, 40,000
Nm3/hr, 30,000 Nm3/hr, 20,000 Nm3/hr, 18,000 Nm3/hr, 16,000 Nm3/hr, 14,000
Nm3/hr, 12,000
Nm3/hr, 10,000 Nm3/hr, 9,000 Nm3/hr, 8,000 Nm3/hr, 7,000 Nm3/hr, 6,000 Nm3/hr,
5,000 Nm3/hr,
4,000 Nm3/hr, 3,000 Nm3/hr, 2,000 Nm3/hr, 1,000 Nm3/hr, 950 Nm3/hr, 900
Nm3/hr, 850 Nm3/hr,
800 Nm3/hr, 750 Nm3/hr, 700 Nm3/hr, 650 Nm3/hr, 600 Nm3/hr, 550 Nm3/hr, 500
Nm3/hr, 450
Nm3/hr, 400 Nm3/hr, 350 Nm3/hr, 300 Nm3/hr, 250 Nm3/hr, 200 Nm3/hr, 150
Nm3/hr, 100 Nm3/hr,
75 Nm3/hr, 50 Nm3/hr, 25 Nm3/hr, 10 Nm3/hr, 5 Nm3/hr or 2 Nm3/hr. The thermal
transfer gas may
be provided to the system (e.g., to the reactor) at such rates in combination
with one or more
feedstock flow rates described herein.
[00046] The feedstock (e.g., hydrocarbon) may be provided to the
system (e.g., to a reactor,
such as, for example, reactor 102 or 212 described herein) at a rate of, for
example, greater than or
equal to about 50 grams per hour (g/hr), 100 g/hr, 250 g/hr, 500 g/hr, 750
g/hr, 1 kilogram per hour
(kg/hr), 2 kg/hr, 5 kg/hr, 10 kg/hr, 15 kg/hr, 20 kg/hr, 25 kg/hr, 30 kg/hr,
35 kg/hr, 40 kg/hr, 45
kg/hr, 50 kg/hr, 55 kg/hr, 60 kg/hr, 65 kg/hr, 70 kg/hr, 75 kg/hr, 80 kg/hr,
85 kg/hr, 90 kg/hr, 95
kg/hr, 100 kg/hr, 150 kg/hr, 200 kg/hr, 250 kg/hr, 300 kg/hr, 350 kg/hr, 400
kg/hr, 450 kg/hr, 500
kg/hr, 600 kg/hr, 700 kg/hr, 800 kg/hr, 900 kg/hr, 1,000 kg/hr, 1,100 kg/hr,
1,200 kg/hr, 1,300
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kg/hr, 1,400 kg/hr, 1,500 kg/hr, 1,600 kg/hr, 1,700 kg/hr, 1,800 kg/hr, 1,900
kg/hr, 2,000 kg/hr,
2,100 kg/hr, 2,200 kg/hr, 2,300 kg/hr, 2,400 kg/hr, 2,500 kg/hr, 3,000 kg/hr,
3,500 kg/hr, 4,000
kg/hr, 4,500 kg/hr, 5,000 kg/hr, 6,000 kg/hr, 7,000 kg/hr, 8,000 kg/hr, 9,000
kg/hr or 10,000 kg/hr.
Alternatively, or in addition, the feedstock (e.g., hydrocarbon) may be
provided to the system (e.g.,
to the reactor) at a rate of, for example, less than or equal to about 10,000
kg/hr, 9,000 kg/hr, 8,000
kg/hr, 7,000 kg/hr, 6,000 kg/hr, 5,000 kg/hr, 4,500 kg/hr, 4,000 kg/hr, 3,500
kg/hr, 3,000 kg/hr,
2,500 kg/hr, 2,400 kg/hr, 2,300 kg/hr, 2,200 kg/hr, 2,100 kg/hr, 2,000 kg/hr,
1,900 kg/hr, 1,800
kg/hr, 1,700 kg/hr, 1,600 kg/hr, 1,500 kg/hr, 1,400 kg/hr, 1,300 kg/hr, 1,200
kg/hr, 1,100 kg/hr,
1,000 kg/hr, 900 kg/hr, 800 kg/hr, 700 kg/hr, 600 kg/hr, 500 kg/hr, 450 kg/hr,
400 kg/hr, 350 kg/hr,
300 kg/hr, 250 kg/hr, 200 kg/hr, 150 kg/hr, 100 kg/hr, 95 kg/hr, 90 kg/hr, 85
kg/hr, 80 kg/hr, 75
kg/hr, 70 kg/hr, 65 kg/hr, 60 kg/hr, 55 kg/hr, 50 kg/hr, 45 kg/hr, 40 kg/hr,
35 kg/hr, 30 kg/hr, 25
kg/hr, 20 kg/hr, 15 kg/hr, 10 kg/hr, 5 kg/hr, 2 kg/hr, 1 kg/hr, 750 g/hr, 500
g/hr, 250 g/hr or 100
g/hr.
1000471 The thermal transfer gas may be heated to and/or the feedstock may be
subjected to
(e.g., exposed to) a temperature of greater than or equal to about 1,000 C,
1,100 C, 1,200 C,
1,300 nC, 1,400 nC, 1,500 nC, 1,600 nC, 1,700 nC, 1,800 nC, 1,900 nC, 2,000
nC, 2050 "V, 2,100
C, 2,150 C, 2,200 C, 2,250 C, 2,300 C, 2,350 C, 2,400 C, 2,450 C, 2,500
C, 2,550 C,
2,600 C, 2,650 C, 2,700 C, 2,750 C, 2,800 C, 2,850 C, 2,900 C, 2,950
C, 3,000 C, 3,050
C, 3,100 C, 3,150 C, 3,200 C, 3,250 C, 3,300 C, 3,350 C, 3,400 C or
3,450 C.
Alternatively, or in addition, the thermal transfer gas may be heated to
and/or the feedstock may
be subjected to (e.g., exposed to) a temperature of less than or equal to
about 3,500 C, 3,450 C,
3,400 C, 3,350 C, 3,300 C, 3,250 C, 3,200 C, 3,150 C, 3,100 C, 3,050
C, 3,000 C, 2,950
C, 2,900 C, 2,850 C, 2,800 C, 2,750 C, 2,700 C, 2,650 C, 2,600 C, 2,550
'V, 2,500 C,
2450 C 2400 C 2350 C 2300 C 2250 C 2200 C 2150 C 2,100 C, 2050 C 2000,
C, 1,900 C, 1,800 C, 1,700 C, 1,600 C, 1,500 C, 1,400 C, 1,300 C, 1,200
C or 1,100 C.
The thermal transfer gas may be heated to such temperatures by a thermal
generator (e.g., a plasma
generator). The thermal transfer gas may be electrically heated to such
temperatures by the thermal
generator (e.g., the thermal generator may be driven by electrical energy).
Such thermal generators
may have suitable powers.
1000481 Carbon atoms in a carbonaceous product may be exposed, for example, to
the
aforementioned temperatures during conversion of the hydrocarbon feedstock to
the carbonaceous
product. For example, the carbon atoms in the carbonaceous product may be
exposed to such
temperatures as the reaction temperature during the conversion process of the
feedstock (e.g.,
biomethane and/or additive hydrocarbon feedstock) to the carbonaceous product.
Reaction
temperature may refer to a final average temperature that may be calculated,
for example, by
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assuming that (e.g., all) input (e.g., heat and/or electrical) energy is
transferred to the thermal transfer
gas (e.g., into hydrogen) and then transferred to the feedstock (e.g., natural
gas and/or biomethane)
given incoming thermal temperature, endothermic reaction energy, specific heat
capacity, etc.
1000491 Thermal generators may operate at suitable powers. The power may be,
for example,
greater than or equal to about 0.5 kilowatt (kW), 1 kW, 1.5 kW, 2 kW, 5 kW, 10
kW, 25 kW, 50
kW, 75 kW, 100 kW, 150 kW, 200 kW, 250 kW, 300 kW, 350 kW, 400 kW, 450 kW, 500
kW,
550 kW, 600 kW, 650 kW, 700 kW, 750 kW, 800 kW, 850 kW, 900 kW, 950 kW, 1
megawatt
(MW), 1.05 MW, 1.1 MW, 1.15 MW, 1.2 MW, 1.25 MW, 1.3 MW, 1.35 MW, 1.4 MW, 1.45
MW,
1.5 MW, 1.6 MW, 1.7 MW, 1.8 MW, 1.9 MW, 2 MW, 2.5 MW, 3 MW, 3.5 MW, 4 MW, 4.5
MW,
MW, 5.5 MW, 6 MW, 6.5 MW, 7 MW, 7.5 MW, 8 MW, 8.5 MW, 9 MW, 9.5 MW, 10 MW,
10.5 MW, 11 MW, 11.5 MW, 12 MW, 12.5 MW, 13 MW, 13.5 MW, 14 MW, 14.5 MW, 15
MW,
16 MW, 17 MW, 18 MW, 19 MW, 20 MW, 25 MW, 30 MW, 35 MW, 40 MW, 45 MW, 50 MW,
55 MW, 60 MW, 65 MW, 70 MW, 75 MW, 80 MW, 85 MW, 90 MW, 95 MW or 100 MW.
Alternatively, or in addition, the power may be, for example, less than or
equal to about 100 MW,
95 MW, 90 MW, 85 MW, 80 MW, 75 MW, 70 MW, 65 MW, 60 MW, 55 MW, 50 MW, 45 MW,
40 MW, 35 MW, 30 MW, 25 MW, 20 MW, 19 MW, 18 MW, 17 MW, 16 MW, 15 MW, 14.5
MW, 14 MW, 13.5 MW, 13 MW, 12.5 MW, 12 MW, 11.5 MW, 11 MW, 10.5 MW, 10 MW, 9.5
MW, 9 MW, 8.5 MW, 8 MW, 7.5 MW, 7 MW, 6.5 MW, 6 MW, 5.5 MW, 5 MW, 4.5 MW, 4
MW,
3.5 MW, 3 MW, 2.5 MW, 2 MW, 1.9 MW, 1.8 MW, 1.7 MW, 1.6 MW, 1.5 MW, 1.45 MW,
1.4
MW, 1.35 MW, 1.3 MW, 1.25 MW, 1.2 MW, 1.15 MW, 1.1 MW, 1.05 MW, 1 MW, 950 kW,
900
kW, 850 kW, 800 kW, 750 kW, 700 kW, 650 kW, 600 kW, 550 kW, 500 kW, 450 kW,
400 kW,
350 kW, 300 kW, 250 kW, 200 kW, 150 kW, 100 kW, 75 kW, 50 kW, 25 kW, 10 kW, 5
kW, 2
kW, 1.5 kW or 1 kW.
1000501 FIG. 1 shows an example of a flow chart of a process 100. The process
may begin
through addition of hydrocarbon to hot gas (e.g., heat + hydrocarbon) 101. The
process may include
one or more of the steps of heating the gas (e.g., thermal transfer gas),
adding the hydrocarbon to
the hot gas (e.g., 101), passing through a furnace or reactor 102, and using
one or more of a heat
exchanger 103 (e.g., connected to the reactor), filter (e.g., a main filter)
104 (e.g., connected to the
heat exchanger), degas (e.g., degas chamber or apparatus) 105 (e.g., connected
to the filter) and
back end 106. As non-limiting examples of other components, a conveying
process, a process filter,
cyclone, classifier and/or hammer mill may be added (e.g., optionally). The
back end equipment
106 may include, for example, one or more of a pelletizer (e.g., connected to
the degas apparatus),
a binder mixing tank (e.g., connected to the pelletizer), and a dryer (e.g.,
connected to the
pelletizer). The back end of the reactor may comprise a pelletizer, a dryer
and/or a bagger as non-
limiting example(s) of components. More components or fewer components may be
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removed. Carbon particles (e.g., black) may also pass through classifiers,
hammer mills and/or
other size reduction equipment (e.g., so as to reduce the proportion of grit
in the product).
1000511 The hot gas may be a stream of hot gas at an average temperature of
over about 2,200
C. The hot gas may have a composition as described elsewhere herein (e.g., the
hot gas may
comprise greater than 50% hydrogen by volume). The process may include heating
a gas (e.g.,
comprising 50% or greater by volume hydrogen) and then adding this hot gas to
a hydrocarbon at
101. Heat may (e.g., also) be provided through latent radiant heat from the
wall of the reactor. This
may occur through heating of the walls via externally provided energy or
through the heating of
the walls from the hot gas. The heat may be transferred from the hot gas to
the hydrocarbon
feedstock. This may occur immediately upon addition of the hydrocarbon
feedstock to the hot gas
in the reactor or the reaction zone 102. A "reactor" may refer to an apparatus
(e.g., a larger
apparatus comprising a reactor section (or a reaction chamber or a reaction
zone)), or to the reactor
section (or a reaction chamber or a reaction zone). The hydrocarbon may begin
to crack and
decompose before being fully converted into carbonaceous product (e.g., carbon
particles such as,
for example, carbon black). The reaction products may be cooled after
manufacture. A quench may
be used to cool the reaction products. For example, a quench comprising a
majority of hydrogen
gas may be used. The quench may be injected in the reactor portion of the
process. A heat
exchanger may be used to cool the process gases. In the heat exchanger, the
process gases may be
exposed to a large amount of surface area and thus allowed to cool, while the
product stream may
be simultaneously transported through the process.
1000521 An effluent stream of gases and carbon particles (e.g., carbon black
particles) may be
(e.g., subsequently) passed through a filter which may allow more than 50% of
the gas to pass
through, capturing substantially all of the carbon particles (e.g., carbon
black particles) on the filter.
At least about 98% by weight of the carbon particles (e.g., carbon black
particles) may be captured
on the filter. The carbon particles (e.g., carbon black) with residual gas may
(e.g., subsequently)
pass through a degas apparatus where the amount of combustible gas is reduced
(e.g., to less than
about 10% by volume). The carbon particles (e.g., carbon black particles) may
be (e.g.,
subsequently) mixed with water with a binder and then formed into pellets,
followed by removal
of the majority of the water in a dryer.
1000531 FIG. 2 shows an example of a system 200. The system may include a
thermal generator
(e.g., a plasma generator) 210 that generates hot gas (e.g., plasma) to which
a feedstock (e.g., a
feedstock gas, such as, for example, methane) 211 may be added (e.g., at a
feedstock gas inlet).
The mixed gases may enter into a reactor 212 where the carbonaceous product
(e.g., carbon
particles, such as, for example, carbon black) are generated followed by a
heat exchanger 213.
Carbon particles (e.g., carbon black) may then be filtered at filter 214,
pelletized in a pelletizer 215
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and dried in a dryer 216. Other unit operations may exist, for example,
between the filter and
pelletizer units shown, or elsewhere as predetermined or appropriate (e.g., as
described elsewhere
herein). They may include, for example, hydrogen/tail gas removal units,
conveying units, process
filter units, classification units, grit reduction mill units, purge filter
units (e.g., which may filter
black out of steam vented from dryer), dust filter units (e.g., which may
collect dust from other
equipment), off quality product blending units, etc.
1000541 The injected hydrocarbon may be cracked such that at least about 80%
by moles of the
hydrogen originally chemically attached through covalent bonds to the
hydrocarbon may be
homoatomically bonded as diatomic hydrogen. Homoatomically bonded may refer to
the bond
being between two atoms that are the same (e.g., as in diatomic hydrogen or
H2). C-H may be a
heteroatomic bond. A hydrocarbon may go from heteroatomically bonded C-H to
homoatomically
bonded H-H and C-C. This may just refer to the H2 from the CH4 or other
hydrocarbon feedstock
(e.g., the H2 from the plasma may still be present).
1000551 Carbonaceous product (e.g., carbon particles) may be
generated at a yield (e.g., yield
based upon feedstock conversion rate, based on total hydrocarbon injected, on
a weight percent
carbon basis, or as measured by moles of product carbon vs. moles of reactant
carbon) of, for
example, greater than or equal to about 1%, 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%,
70%, 75%,
80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5% or 99.9%.
Alternatively, or in addition, the carbonaceous product (e.g., carbon
particles) may be generated at
a yield (e.g., yield based upon feedstock conversion rate, based on total
hydrocarbon injected, on
a weight percent carbon basis, or as measured by moles of product carbon vs.
moles of reactant
carbon) of, for example, less than or equal to about 100%, 99.9%, 99.5%, 99%,
98%, 97%, 96%,
95%, 94%, 93%, 92%, 91%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, 50%, 25% or
5%.
1000561 The carbonaceous product may be traced back to the starting
hydrocarbon. The starting
hydrocarbon (also "feedstock" herein) may be, for example, from a recycled
source that began with
biofuel and/or it may also be biomethane or biofuel itself. The biomethane or
biofuel may be, for
example, made from sewage, waste organic food, cellulosic waste and the like.
The biomethane or
biofuel may contain a given (e.g., the appropriate) level of carbon-14
isotopes (e.g., a ratio of
carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of approximately 1.35*10^-12, greater than
about 3*10^-13,
between about 1.40*10^-12 and about 3*10^-13, or as described in elsewhere
herein). The
biomethane or biofuel may be traced back to the plant or other living organism
that exchanged air
with the atmosphere in order to incorporate CO2 at the proper level of carbon-
14. In this way the
carbonaceous product may have a level of carbon-14 present that is different
than other
carbonaceous products that have substantially zero carbon-14 because these
other carbonaceous
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products are made from fossil fuels that have long since had the carbon-14
depleted to levels of
less than about 10A-20 in terms of the atomic ratio of carbon-14 ("C) to
carbon-12 (12C).
1000571 Biomethane may also be referred to as renewable natural gas (RNG) or
sustainable
natural gas (SNG). The biomethane may comprise methane. The biomethane may be
a natural gas
that comprises methane (e.g., at a concentration of about 90% or greater). The
biomethane may
have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of at least about 1.35410A-
12 (e.g., the
biomethane may have an amount of carbon-14 isotope in a quantity of at least
about 1.35410^-12:1
compared to carbon-12.
1000581 Carbon-14 is an isotope of carbon that possesses 6 protons and 8
neutrons. The half-
life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 years which is why it can be used to "carbon
date- any organic
material. Any living organism may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12
atoms of, for
example, about 1.40*10A-12 (e.g., a carbon-12 to carbon-14 ratio of
approximately 1:1.40*10A-
12), or as described elsewhere herein. The amount of carbon-14 atoms in living
organisms may
track the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere, which under normal
circumstances may be stable.
The carbon-14 to carbon-12 radioisotope ratio may change in the presence of
nuclear activity (e.g.,
nuclear detonation activity may potentially double or even triple the amount
of carbon-14 in the
atmosphere).
1000591 Principal techniques to measure carbon-14 may include gas proportional
counting,
liquid scintillation counting, and accelerator mass spectrometry. The
conventional technique that
is widely used is gas proportional counting and more can be learned about this
technique through
reference material such as "Radiocarbon after four decades," pages 184-197
edited by B. Kromer
and K. Mi.innich (including the references cited therein), which is
incorporated by reference herein
with respect to relevant portions therein.
1000601 A feedstock (e.g., a single feedstock or a mixture of
feedstocks, as described in greater
detail elsewhere herein) and/or a carbonaceous product of the present
disclosure may have a ratio
of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of, for example, greater than or equal
to about 10^-20, 10'-
19, 10A-18, 10A-17, 10A-16, 10A-15, 10A-14, 10A-13, 2*10A-13, 3*10A-13, 4*10A-
13, 5*10A-13,
6*10A-13, 7*10A-13, 8*10A-13, 9*10A-13, 10A-12, 1.1*10A-12, 1.2*10A-12,
1.3^10A-12,
1.35*10A-12 or 1.4*10A-12. Alternatively, or in addition, the feedstock (e.g.,
a single feedstock or
a mixture of feedstocks, as described in greater detail elsewhere herein)
and/or the carbonaceous
product of the present disclosure may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to
carbon-12 atoms of, for
example, less than or equal to about 1.4*10A-12, 1.35*10A-12, 1.3"10"-12,
1.2*10A-12, 1.1*10A-
12, 10"-12, 9*10"-13, 8*10"-13, 7*10"-13, 6*10"-13, 5410"-13, 4*10"-13, 3*10"-
13, 2410-13,
10"-13, 10"-14, 10"-15, 10"-16, 10A-17, 10"-18, 10A-19 or 10"-20. A feedstock
(e.g., a single
feedstock or a mixture of feedstocks, as described in greater detail elsewhere
herein) and/or a
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carbonaceous product of the present disclosure may have a ratio of carbon-14
atoms to carbon-12
atoms of, for example, greater than about 3*10A-13. A feedstock (e.g., a
single feedstock or a
mixture of feedstocks, as described in greater detail elsewhere herein) and/or
a carbonaceous
product of the present disclosure may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to
carbon-12 atoms of, for
example, about 1.35*10A-12. A feedstock (e.g., a single feedstock or a mixture
of feedstocks, as
described in greater detail elsewhere herein) and/or a carbonaceous product of
the present
disclosure may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of, for
example, between about
1.40*10^-12 and about 3*10A43. A feedstock (e.g., a single feedstock or a
mixture of feedstocks,
as described in greater detail elsewhere herein) and/or a carbonaceous product
of the present
disclosure may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of, for
example, greater than
or equal to about 10A-20.
1000611 A process in accordance with the present disclosure may produce a
carbonaceous
product. The carbonaceous product may have a carbon content of, for example,
greater than or
equal to about 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94% or 95% (e.g., by
weight). Alternatively,
or in addition, the carbonaceous product may have a carbon content of, for
example, less than or
equal to about 99%, 95%, 94%, 93%, 92%, 91%, 90%, 85% or 80% (e.g., by
weight). In some
examples, the carbonaceous product may comprise or be, for example, greater
than or equal to
about 80% or 90% carbon (e.g., about 90% or greater carbon) (e.g., by weight).
Examples of this
type of product may include coke, needle coke, graphite, large ring polycyclic
aromatic
hydrocarbons, activated carbon, carbon black, etc. (or any combination
thereof). A carbonaceous
product may include carbon particles. Any description of carbon particles
herein may equally apply
to a carbonaceous product at least in some configurations, and vice versa. Any
description of
carbon black herein may equally apply to one or more other carbonaceous
products at least in some
configurations, and vice versa.
1000621 A carbonaceous product (e.g., carbon black) may be used in various
applications. For
example, the carbonaceous product may be used in a rubber article. A rubber
article may be an
article that comprises an elastomer and one or more other ingredients. For
example, the rubber
article may comprise an elastomer and (e.g., normally) one or more of the
other ingredients that
are added during polymer-filler incorporation (also known as polymer-filler
mixing), such as, for
example: a filler such as carbon black or silica, an oil, ZnO, hydrogen
peroxide or reaction products
therefrom, sulfur, benzensulfenamides or other accelerator(s) such as
thiurams, stearic acid or other
organic acid, and other such ingredients such as listed in Mark, Erman and
Roland, "The Science
and Technology of Rubber," 4th Ed., incorporated by reference herein with
respect to relevant
portions therein.
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[00063] An incumbent process for a given material may refer to a process by
which more than
about 30% of the world's production of this given material or commodity is
produced over a 10-
year rolling average.
[00064] For example, in the carbon black industry, over about 90% of the
world's supply is
produced via the furnace process. See description of furnace black process in
Donnet, "Carbon
Black," 2nd Ed., incorporated by reference herein with respect to relevant
portions therein.
[00065] FIG. 7 shows a schematic representation of an example of a
conventional carbon black
process. Decant oil 701 is provided as a feedstock to a combustion process
700. The process
produces carbon black (a product) 702 and CO2, NO and SOx 703.
[00066] FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation and approximate description of
a furnace
process 300. Natural gas 301 (e.g., about 0.2 ton natural gas), pyrolysis fuel
oil (PFO), which is a
common feedstock in the furnace process), 302 (e.g., about 2 tons of PFO), and
air (e.g., nitrogen,
oxygen and various other components) 303 (e.g., about 4 tons of air at
standard temperature and
pressure (STP)) may be provided to a partial combustion process 304. The
partial combustion
process 320 may produce N2 305 (e.g., about 2 tons of N2), CO2, SO x and NO
306 (e.g., about 3
tons of CO2, SO x and NOR) and carbon black 307 (e.g., about 1 toil of carbon
black). See description
of partial combustion reactor in Donnet, "Carbon Black," 2ndEd., incorporated
by reference herein
with respect to relevant portions therein.
[00067] The incumbent process for production of ammonia from hydrogen is the
Haber-Bosch
process. The incumbent process for hydrogen production to feed into the
ammonia or Haber-Bosch
process is steam methane reforming (SMR). SMR requires input of water and CH4
according to
the following equation: 2 H20 + CH4 4 CO2 + 4 H2. This is an energy intensive
process as the
reaction requires high temperatures in excess of 700 C to proceed. In
contrast, the generation of
H2 in a process in accordance with the present disclosure (e.g., the plasma
technology process)
may lack by-product CO2 which in the incumbent process for making ammonia is a
very large
driver of global CO2 emissions at greater than 1% of total emissions (e.g.,
greater than 1% of global
emissions of CO2).
[00068] FIG. 8 shows a schematic representation of an example of a
conventional ammonia
process. Air 801, steam 802 and natural gas 803 are provided as feedstocks to
a reforming and
synthesis process 800. The process produces ammonia (a product) 804 and CO2
805.
[00069] FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of an example of a process 400
in accordance
with the present disclosure. A feedstock (e.g., biomethane) 401 and energy
(e.g., renewable energy)
402 may be provided to a conversion process 403 (e.g., a plasma process as
described elsewhere
herein). The conversion process 403 (e.g., a plasma process as described
herein) may use (e.g., be
configured to use) a combination of renewable energy and biomethane or biofuel
(e.g., as a
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combination of renewable energy 402 and biomethane 401. The conversion process
403 (e.g., a
plasma process as described herein) may be used (e.g., be configured for use)
in conjunction with
renewable energy and biomethane or biofuel. The renewable energy in this case
may be, for
example, wind or solar or any other number of renewable energy resources (or
any combination
thereof). The conversion process 403 (e.g., plasma process) may be as
described elsewhere herein.
The process 400 (e.g., from the conversion process 403) may produce one or
more products (e.g.,
two or more co-products), such as, for example, a carbonaceous product 404 and
hydrogen (H2)
405. The carbonaceous product may be as described elsewhere herein. For
example, the
carbonaceous product may be carbon black. The carbon black may be loaded into
railcars and
immediately delivered to customers. The hydrogen (or a hydrogen-rich stream)
may be provided
or coupled to one or more uses 406 (e.g., jet fuel), 407 (e.g., ammonia) and
408 (e.g., other).
Examples of such uses may include, but are not limited to, for example,
providing the hydrogen to
a pipeline, reinjecting the hydrogen into a pipeline, providing the hydrogen
to a refinery (e.g., for
use in refining operations, such as, for example, for hydrogenation), using
the hydrogen in a
combined or simple cycle gas turbine or steam turbine (e.g., as a combustible
fuel), utilizing the
hydrogen in production of ammonia (e.g., in a Haber-Bosch process to produce
ammonia), utilizing
the hydrogen in production of methanol (e.g., in catalytic conversion to
methanol), and/or
liquefying the hydrogen (e.g., to produce liquid hydrogen through
liquefaction). For example, the
hydrogen may be sold as hydrogen or it may be further processed into one or
more chemicals
including, for example, ammonia 407. Ammonia may be used, for example, as a
fertilizer in the
agriculture industry. For example, ammonia may be provided or coupled to one
or more uses 409
(e.g., energy), 410 (e.g., urea and other chemical) and 411 (e.g.,
agriculture) and/or other uses (not
shown).
1000701 As described, for example, in relation to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4,
a process (e.g., plasma
technology) in accordance with the present disclosure may be used in
conjunction with biomethane
and renewable energy to produce one or more products (also "co-products-
herein in some contexts
including multiple products), such as, for example, a carbonaceous product
(e.g., carbon black)
and hydrogen. The process may produce substantially zero local emissions.
There may be
substantially zero local emissions at the manufacturing plant (e.g., the
manufacturing plant that
operates on the process). Thus, for every ton of carbonaceous product (e.g.,
carbon black) that is
generated, at least about 2 tons (e.g., circa 2 tons) of CO2 are not emitted.
Because the biomethane
comes from an organism, the carbon (e.g., from the CO2) may be sequestered as
a recyclable
product. The co-product hydrogen may be used to generate ammonia as one non-
limiting example
or provided or coupled to one or more other uses described herein.
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[00071] FIG. 5 schematically illustrates certain advantages of a process 500
in accordance with
the present disclosure. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates ability of a
conversion process (e.g., the
plasma technology or the plasma process) that allows for use of biomethane or
other biofuels.
Energy (e.g., sunlight) 501 and carbon dioxide (CO2) 502 may allow a plant or
tree or other living
organism to grow and form biomass 503. The biomass 503 may be harvested at 504
and then in
the process of being utilized may become waste food or waste biomass. This
material may end up,
for example in sewage or other bio-waste, organic waste or biogenic waste
(e.g., as described
elsewhere herein) 505. The bio-waste (e.g., sewage) may then be further
processed into biofuel or
biomethane 506 through anaerobic digestion and then provided to a conversion
process in
accordance with the present disclosure (e.g., the plasma process) 507 to form
one or more products,
such as, for example, a carbonaceous product 508 such as, for example, carbon
black, and hydrogen
(H2) 509. The hydrogen 509 may be provided or coupled to one or more uses, as
described in
greater detail elsewhere herein. For example, the hydrogen 509 may be
transformed into ammonia
510. The ammonia 510may further be used as a fertilizer to restart the process
of growing plants
to further sequester CO2 out of the atmosphere. The carbonaceous product 508
may be, for
example, carbon black. The carbonaceous product 508 (e.g., carbon black) may
be used to form
first generation products 511 (e.g., carbon black elastomer or plastic
composites such as, for
example, carbon black/rubber 512 and/or carbon black/plastics 513). The first
generation products
511 (e.g., both of the classes of products shown in FIG. 5) may be recycled at
514 (e.g., to
playground filler 515, asphalt filler 516 and/or recycled black plastic 517),
furthering the
sequestration of the as produced carbonaceous product from CO2 from the
atmosphere.
[00072] A green production process in accordance with FIG. 5 may enable
manufacture of a
carbonaceous product such as, for example, carbon black, that effectively
sequesters CO2 out of
the atmosphere. For example, for every 1 ton of carbonaceous product such as,
for example, carbon
black, that is produced, at least about 2.0 tons of CO2 may be removed from
the atmosphere and
sequestered within a carbonaceous product (e.g., such that the as-manufactured
carbonaceous
product now comprises the carbon component from the CO2).
[00073] With continued reference to FIG. 5, governing equations for a process
for forming, for
example, biogenic carbon black and hydrogen may be:
[00074] 6 CO2 + 6 H2O C6H1206 + 6 02 (photosynthesis)
[00075] C6E11206 ¨> 3 CO2 + 3 CH4 (anaerobic digestion)
[00076] 3 CH4 3 C + 6 H2 (pyrolysis)
[00077] Overall
[00078] 6 CO2 + 6 H20 ¨> 6 02 + 3 CO2 + 3 C + 6 H2
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[00079] Reduced equation:
1000801 CO2 + 2 H20 2 02 C 2 H2
[00081] FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of an example of a plasma
process in
accordance with the present disclosure. A feedstock 601 (e.g., natural gas
and/or one or more other
feedstocks described herein) 601 and energy (e.g., renewable electricity) 602
may be provided to
the process (e.g., a plasma process as described elsewhere herein) 600. The
process may produce
one or more products, such as, for example, carbon black (a product) 603 and
ammonia (a product)
604.
[00082] A process in accordance with the present disclosure (e.g.,
with biomethane feedstock)
may provide a greater reduction in greenhouse gases than a process of making
ammonia via
electrolysis of water using renewable (e.g., solar) electricity followed by
subsequent reaction of
the hydrogen with nitrogen over a catalyst to make ammonia. For example,
interestingly, yet not
intuitively, the plasma process with biomethane can reduce greenhouse gases
more than the process
of making ammonia via the electrolysis of water using renewable electricity
and then the
subsequent reaction of the hydrogen with nitrogen over a catalyst to make
ammonia. Because the
hydrogen can be generated or collected from a biofuel, a process in accordance
with the present
disclosure (e.g., the plasma process) can have both substantially no (e.g.,
no) direct emissions of
CO2 and also effectively sequester CO2 from the atmosphere in a carbonaceous
product. This is a
major advantage over any other process to make hydrogen. Greater than about 1%
(e.g., over 1%)
of global emissions of CO2 are due to hydrogen production for the Haber-Bosch
process to make
ammonia. Innovative technologies such as the process(es) described herein
(e.g., innovative
technologies like the plasma process described herein) and the use of
biomethane and other
biofuels can make a meaningful impact on the global emissions of greenhouse
gases.
[00083] Aspects of the present disclosure may be advantageously combined. For
example, one
or more CO2 reduction and/or sequestration configurations described herein may
be used in concert
with each other and/or with, for example, one or more given conversion
processes, such as, for
example, the plasma technology (e.g., plasma process) described herein. For
example, a process in
accordance with the present disclosure may include a combination of biomethane
(e.g., providing
a feedstock at least in part comprising biomethane or biofuel, and/or
operating a biofuel or
biomethane process to provide such a feedstock), plasma technology (e.g., a
plasma process as
described elsewhere herein), and ammonia technology (e.g., operating on an
ammonia (conversion)
process to convert a co-product of the plasma technology to ammonia). Such a
combined process
may in some cases be operated in one location. The individual
aspects/processes of the combined
process may in some cases be working simultaneously. The term simultaneous in
this instance may
refer to substantially simultaneous (e.g., not all processes have to take
place at the same time). For
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example, a biomethane process from, for example, sewage or from organic waste
may operate some
of the time but may be supplemented by delivery of biomethane from various
other external sources.
Likewise, some of the hydrogen used for the Haber-Bosch process may be
temporarily stored prior
to being provided to an ammonia reactor. Substantially all of the processes
may occur
simultaneously, but not necessarily at the exact same moment in time. Further,
although a process
may not be operated at a given time, a substantially similar overall
configuration may be realized
through, for example, storage or delivery of a given process output (e.g.,
delivery of biomethane
when biomethane process is not in operation, or hydrogen storage for use in
the ammonia reactor
when plasma process is not in operation, etc.).
1000841 As described in greater detail elsewhere herein, processes in
accordance with the
present disclosure may be, or may use (e.g., be configured to use) or be
coupled with green
processes es (e.g., see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). For example, biofuel or
biomethane, and/or recyclable
products, may be provided (e.g., directly and/or indirectly) as input to the
processes described
herein. Alternatively, or in addition, green processes may be incorporated
through credits from a
(e.g., resultant or underlying) green process such as, for example, biomethane
production. The
resultant carbonaceous output of such a green process may have digital carbon-
14 credits. For
example, the biomethane manufacturer may use the digestion process described
elsewhere herein
and then deliver the biomethane to the local pipeline and receive payment in
excess of the normal
cost of natural gas. The user of the biomethane may pay a credit that matches
the price paid or is
in excess of the price paid by the purchaser/seller of the biomethane that now
acts as a middleman
between the manufacturer of the biomethane and the user of the biomethane. The
delivery vehicle
of the biomethane may be the pipeline that connects the supplier to the
purveyor of the technology
using the biomethane, however, the individual methane molecules that the buyer
of the biomethane
receives may not have a given (e.g., proper) amount of carbon-14 as if the
biomethane had been
delivered by the actual producer of the biomethane. In some examples, this may
be the most
efficient method to deliver the biomethane to the final end user and may
result in the least amount
of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere due to inefficiencies in the delivery of
the biomethane to remote
consumers of the biomethane. Biofuel or biomethane, or any other feedstock(s)
with a ratio of
carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of, for example, greater than or equal to
about 10^-20 or
higher (e.g., as described elsewhere herein), may be greater than or equal to
about 0%, 1%, 5%,
10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%,
85%, 90%,
95% or 100% of total feedstock provided to a process in accordance with the
present disclosure.
Alternatively, or in addition, the biofuel or biomethane, or any other
feedstock(s) with a ratio of
carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of, for example, greater than or equal to
about 10^-20 or
higher (e.g., as described elsewhere herein), may be, for example, less than
or equal to about 100%,
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95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, 50%, 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%,
20%, 15%,
10%, 5% or 1% of total feedstock provided to a process in accordance with the
present disclosure.
Fossil fuel-generated feedstock(s) (e.g., with a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to
carbon-12 atoms of less
than about 10^-20) offset by carbon-14 credits may be greater than or equal to
about 0%, 1%, 5%,
10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%,
85%, 90%,
95% or 100% of total feedstock and/or of total non-fossil fuel-generated
feedstock provided to a
process in accordance with the present disclosure. Alternatively, or in
addition, the fossil fuel-
generated feedstock(s) (e.g., with a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12
atoms of less than about
10^-20) offset by carbon-14 credits may be, for example, less than or equal to
about 100%, 95%,
90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, 50%, 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%, 20%,
15%, 10%,
5% or 1% of total feedstock and/or of total non-fossil fuel-generated
feedstock provided to a
process in accordance with the present disclosure.
1000851 As described in greater detail elsewhere herein, renewable
energy (e.g., electricity to
drive the conversion of feedstock(s) to product(s)) may be provided as input
to processes described
herein (e.g., see FIG. 4 and FIG. 6). For example, wind, solar and/or other
renewable energy
resources may provide electricity to the process (e.g., a plasma process as
described herein).
Alternatively, or in addition, renewable energy may be provided, for example,
through renewable
energy certificates (RECs) for the electricity (e.g., generated by fossil
fuel) provided to the process,
with 1 REC representing the environmental attributes of 1 MWh of renewable
energy. Renewable
energy (e.g., from renewable energy generators(s)) may be greater than or
equal to about 0%, 1%,
5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%,
85%,
90%, 95% or 100% of total energy (e.g., electricity) provided to a process in
accordance with the
present disclosure. Alternatively, or in addition, the renewable energy (e.g.,
from renewable energy
generators(s)) may be, for example, less than or equal to about 100%, 95%,
90%, 85%, 80%, 75%,
70%, 65%, 60%, 55%, 50%, 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5% or 1% of
total
energy (e.g., electricity) provided to a process in accordance with the
present disclosure. Fossil
fuel energy (e.g., from fossil fuel energy generator(s)) offset by RECs may be
greater than or equal
to about 0%, 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%,
65%, 70%,
75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95% or 100% of total energy and/or of total renewable
energy (e.g.,
renewable electricity) provided to a process in accordance with the present
disclosure.
Alternatively, or in addition, the fossil fuel energy (e.g., from fossil fuel
energy generator(s)) offset
by RECs may be, for example, less than or equal to about 100%, 95%, 90%, 85%,
80%, 75%, 70%,
65%, 60%, 55%, 50%, 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10%, 5% or 1% of total
energy
and/or of total renewable energy (e.g., renewable electricity) provided to a
process in accordance
with the present disclosure.
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[00086] A carbonaceous product may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-
12 atoms
greater than about 3*10A-13 (e.g., the ratio may be more than about 3*10A-13:1
C14 to C12) and
less than about 1.40*10A-12 (e.g., the carbonaceous product may possess less
than about 1.40*10A-
12:1 carbon-14 atoms compared to carbon-12 atoms). The carbonaceous product
may be carbon
black. Carbon atoms in the carbonaceous product may be exposed to temperatures
in excess of
about 1,000 C or about 1,500 C (e.g., as the reaction temperature) during
the conversion process
of biomethane and/or additive hydrocarbon feedstock to solid, carbonaceous
product. Although
physical carbon-14 may not be present in the carbonaceous product as made, the
carbon-14 content
of the carbonaceous product may be secured (e.g., achieved through purchase)
of digital carbon-
14 credits of biomethane. A green production process wherein for every ton of
input natural gas in
a green production process in accordance with the present disclosure, CO2
emissions of the
carbonaceous product and all other products may be reduced by more than about
3 tons when
compared to incumbent processes. For every 1 ton of carbonaceous product that
is produced in a
green production process in accordance with the present disclosure, at least
about 2.0 tons of CO2
may be removed from the atmosphere and sequestered within a carbonaceous
product and the
carbon component (e.g., from the CO2) may now be part of the as-manufactured
carbonaceous
product. Manufacture of the carbonaceous product (e.g., carbon black) may
effectively sequester
CO2 out of the atmosphere. A combination of biomethane, plasma technology
(e.g., plasma process
as described herein), and ammonia technology (e.g., ammonia process such as an
ammonia
conversion process described herein) may be provided in one location (e.g.,
working or operating
simultaneously). Wind energy or other renewable energy may be used to generate
plasma in
pyrolytic dehydrogenation of methane. Raw feed of tire crumb of less than
about 10 mm by 10 mm
size may be provided into the plasma process as a co-feed with biomethane,
biofuel and/or natural
gas. A method of converting tires and carbon black to methane may be provided.
The method may
further comprise using the methane to produce carbonaceous product. The
carbonaceous product
may be carbon black. A rubber article may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to
carbon-12 atoms
from about 3*10A-13 to about 1.40*10A-12 (e.g., the rubber article may possess
from about 3*10A-
13 to about 1.40*10A-12 carbon-14 atoms for every 1 carbon-12 atom). A tire
may have a ratio of
carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms from about 3*10A-13 to about 1.40*10A-12
(e.g., the tire may
possess from about 3*10A-13 to about 1.40*10^-12 carbon-14 atoms for every 1
carbon-12 atom).
A feed of biomethane may possess about 60% or greater content of methane
derived from a
biological source; the remainder of gas by volume may be impurities from
digestion process or co-
feedstocks that may or may not be bio-based.
[00087] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a carbonaceous
product. The
carbonaceous product may have a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms as
described
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elsewhere herein. For example, the carbonaceous product may have a ratio
greater than about
3*10^-13. The carbonaceous product may have a carbon content of at least about
90, 91, 92, 93,
94, 95, 95.5, 96, 96.5, 97, 97.5, 98, 98.5, 99, 99.5, 99.9, 99.95, 99.99, or
more percent. The
carbonaceous product may have a carbon content of at most about 99.99, 99.95,
99.9, 99.5, 99,
98.5, 98, 97.5, 97, 96.5, 96, 95.5, 95, 94, 93, 92, 91, 90, or less percent.
For example, the
carbonaceous product can have a carbon content of greater than about 97% by
weight. The
carbonaceous product may have a carbon content in a range as defined by any
two of the
proceeding values. For example, the carbonaceous product can have a carbon
content of between
about 95% and 99%. The carbonaceous product may comprise graphitic rings. The
graphitic rings
may comprise polycyclic aromatic rings. The polycyclic aromatic rings may
comprise at least
about 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or more rings. The polycyclic
aromatic rings may comprise
at most about 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, or fewer rings. For
example, the polycyclic
aromatic rings may comprise at least about 8 aromatic rings. The graphitic
rings may possess
properties similar to those of graphite. The graphitic rings may not be
present in naturally produced
biomass. For example, a plant-based biomass may not comprise graphitic rings.
The carbonaceous
product may comprise carbon black as described elsewhere herein. The
carbonaceous product may
be solid. For example, the carbonaceous product can be a solid carbon
containing product as
opposed to a gaseous product.
1000881 In another aspect, the present disclosure may provide a method of
forming a
carbonaceous product. A feedstock and a heated gas may be provided. The
feedstock may have a
ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms greater than about 3*10^-13. The
feedstock and the
heated gas may be mixed to form the carbonaceous product. The carbonaceous
product may have
a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms greater than about 3*10^-13. The
carbonaceous
product may have a carbon content as described elsewhere herein. For example,
the carbonaceous
product may have a carbon content of at least about 97% by weight. The
carbonaceous product
may have graphitic rings. The feedstock may have a ratio of carbon-14 to
carbon-12 as described
elsewhere herein. The carbonaceous product may be as described elsewhere
herein. For example,
the carbonaceous product may be carbon black.
1000891 Carbon atoms in the carbonaceous product may be exposed to
temperatures of at least
about 500, 750, 1,000, 1,250, 1,500, 1,750, 2,000, 2,250, 2,500, 2,750, 3,000,
or more degrees
Celsius during conversion of the feedstock to the carbonaceous product. Carbon
atoms in the
carbonaceous product may be exposed to temperature of at most about 3,000,
2,750, 2,500, 2,250,
2,000, 1,750, 1,500, 1,250, 1,000, 750, 500, or less degrees Celsius during
conversion of the
feedstock to the carbonaceous product. Carbon atoms in the carbonaceous
product may be exposed
to a temperature range as defined by any two of the proceeding values during
conversion of the
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feedstock to the carbonaceous product. For example, the carbon atoms can be
exposed to a
temperature from about 1,500 to about 3,000 degrees Celsius during conversion
of the feedstock
to the carbonaceous product.
1000901 The conversion of the feedstock may comprise a conversion of one or
more of
biomethane, biofuels, unprocessed biological materials (e.g., biological
materials as harvested or
collected), an additive hydrocarbon feedstock (e.g., an addition of a non-
renewable hydrocarbon),
or the like, or any combination thereof to the carbonaceous product. For
example, a biomethane
feedstock can be converted directly to the carbonaceous feedstock. In this
example, all of the
carbonaceous feedstock can be produced from the biomethane. In another
example, a mixture of
the biomethane and natural gas derived from fossil fuels can be used together
as the feedstock. In
this example, the carbonaceous product may have a lower carbon-14 to carbon-12
ratio than a
carbonaceous product made only from biomethane, as the presence of the fossil
fuel derived natural
gas can reduce the amount of carbon-14 present in the combined feedstock.
1000911 For each ton of input natural gas (e.g., fossil fuel derived
natural gas), carbon dioxide
emissions derived from the production of the carbonaceous product and all
other products of a
production process (e.g., other products made using the same input natural
gas) can be reduced by
at least about 0.1, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, or more tons as compared
to an incumbent process for producing the carbonaceous product and the other
products. For each
ton of input natural gas (e.g., fossil fuel derived natural gas), carbon
dioxide emissions derived
from the production of the carbonaceous product and all other products of a
production process
(e.g., other products made using the same input natural gas) can be reduced by
at most about 10,
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5, 1, 0.5, or less tons as
compared to an incumbent process
for producing the carbonaceous product and the other products. The incumbent
process may be as
described elsewhere herein. The incumbent process may be, for example, a
furnace production of
the carbonaceous product. The method may comprise sequestering carbon dioxide
within the
carbonaceous product such that a ratio of carbon dioxide sequestered to
carbonaceous product is
at least about 10:1, 9:1, 8:1, 7:1, 6:1, 5:1, 4:1, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3,
1:4, 1:5, 1:6, 1:7, 1:8, 1:9,
1:10, or more.
1000921 The mixing the feedstock and the heated gas to form the carbonaceous
product may be
performed substantially free of atmospheric oxygen, free sulfur, metal ions,
atmospheric nitrogen,
or the like or any combination thereof. Substantially free may be where an
impurity is present at a
concentration of less than at most about 25%, 24%, 23%, 22%, 21%, 20%, 19%,
18%, 17%, 16%,
15%, 14%, 13%, 12%, 11%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4,5%, 4%, 3.5%, 3%, 2.5%,
2%, 1.9%,
1.8%, 1.7%, 1.6%, 1.5%, 1.4%, 1.3%, 1.2%, 1.1%, 1%, 0.9%, 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.6%,
0.5%, 0.4%,
0.3%, 0.2%, 0.1%, 0.05%, 0.01%, 50 ppm, 25ppm, 10 ppm, 5 ppm or 1 ppm. The
mixing the
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feedstock and the heated gas to form the carbonaceous product may be performed
with the aid of
electrical heating as described elsewhere herein. The mixing the feedstock and
the heated gas to
form the carbonaceous product may be performed with the aid of a plasma
generator. For example,
the feedstock and the heated gas can be mixed in an electric plasma heated
chamber.
1000931 In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of
determining an adjusted
ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12. The method may comprise providing a feedstock
and a heated gas.
The feedstock and the heated gas may be mixed to form the carbonaceous
product. At least one
computer processor may be used to calculate the adjusted ratio of carbon-14 to
carbon-12. The
adjusted ratio may comprise a combination of a physical ratio of carbon-14 to
carbon-12 atoms
present within the carbonaceous product and digital carbon-14 credits of
biomethane.
[00094] The feedstock and the heated gas may be as described elsewhere herein.
Though
described above with reference to biomethane, the methods of the present
disclosure may be used
with any renewable carbon feedstock as described elsewhere herein. The
calculation of an adjusted
ratio may be described further in Example 5. The adjusted ratio of carbon-14
to carbon-12 may be
as described elsewhere herein. For example, the adjusted ratio can be at least
about 3*10^-13.
[00095] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a production
process. The production
process may comprise a biomethane process, a plasma process, and an ammonia
process. The
biomethane process, the plasma process, and the ammonia process may be in one
location. The
one location may be a location with a diameter of at most about 25, 20, 15,
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,
1, 0.5, 0.25, or less miles. For example, the biomethane process can be housed
in a first location,
while the plasma process and the ammonia process can be housed at a second
location less than a
mile away. In another example, the biomethane process, the plasma process, and
the ammonia
process can each be housed at different locations less than 0.5 miles from one
another. In another
example, the biomethane process, the plasma process, and the ammonia process
can be collocated
in a single facility. The biomethane process, the plasma process, and the
ammonia process may
operate simultaneously. For example, each process can be running at the same
time as the other
processes. The biomethane process may produce biomethane. The plasma process
may consume
the biomethane produced by the biomethane process and produce hydrogen, a
carbonaceous
product, or the like, or any combination thereof. The ammonia process can
consume the hydrogen
produced by the plasma process and produce ammonia comprising the hydrogen.
For example, the
biomethane process can generate biomethane that is fed into the plasma
process, which in turn can
produce hydrogen that is fed into the ammonia process. In this example, the
three processes can
occur simultaneously using the feeds from each process to support the others.
Waste heat may be
shared between one or more of the biomethane process, the plasma process, and
the ammonia
process. For example, the plasma process can produce waste heat that can be
used to heat the
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biomethane and the ammonia processes. The use of the waste heat can improve
the efficiency of
the combined production process as compared to performing the processes
individually.
1000961 In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a raw feed of tire
crumb. The tire
crumb of the raw feed of tire crumb may have a dimension on a side of at most
about 50, 40, 30,
25,20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or
less millimeters. For example,
the tire crumb may have a size of less than about 10 millimeters by 10
millimeters. The raw feed
of tire crumb may be provided into a plasma process as a co-feed with
biomethane, biofuel, natural
gas, or the like, or any combination thereof
1000971 The plasma process may produce a carbonaceous product (e.g., carbon
black). For
example, a plasma process to produce carbon black as described elsewhere
herein may use a co-
feed of tire crumb and biomethane to produce the carbon black. In this
example, the tire crumb can
be thermally decomposed into a hydrocarbon gas, which can in turn be used with
the co-feed to
form the carbon black. In this way, the tire crumb can be recycled to produce
a carbonaceous
product, diverting the tire crumb from other waste streams. Due to the
difficulty in recycling tires,
the use of tires as a feedstock for a plasma process represents an improvement
in efficiency, cost,
and environmental impact over other tire disposal processes.
1000981 In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method of
processing, which may
comprise converting one or more tires and carbon black into methane. The
carbon black may be
compounded within the tires. For example, the carbon black can be mixed with
the rubber of the
tire during the formation of the tire to improve the wear resistance of the
tire. In this example, the
carbon black may be integral to the tire and difficult to remove from the
rubber. In some cases, the
one or more tires and carbon black can be converted into methane, volatile
organics, semi-volatile
organics, or the like, or any combination thereof. A volatile organic may be
an organic (e.g., a
carbon containing) molecule with a vapor pressure sufficient to become gaseous
a temperature and
pressure of the conversion. Examples of volatile organics include, but are not
limited to, aromatic
compounds (e.g., benzene, toluene, xylenes, anthracene, etc.), alkanes (e.g.,
ethane, propanes,
butanes, hexanes, octanes, etc.), cyclic compounds (e.g., non-aromatic cyclic
carbon containing
compounds), or the like. A non-volatile organic may be an organic (e.g.,
carbon containing)
molecule that remains solid and/or liquid at a temperature and pressure of the
conversion. For
example, coke may not be volatile in the processing. The non-volatile organics
may decompose
into volatile organics. For example, a charcoal derived from the tire can be
converted to volatile
organics under the heat of the processing. The carbon black may not re-
volatilize. For example,
the carbon black may not be converted into methane depending on the
temperature and residence
time of the carbon black in the processing. In some cases, the carbon black
can be heated at a high
(e.g., greater than about 2,000 C) for an extended period of time (e.g.,
greater than about 30
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minutes) to slowly re-volatilize the carbon black into methane, volatile
organics, or a combination
thereof. In some cases, the carbon black may be recovered from the process and
recycled. For
example, the tires can be converted to methane, while the carbon black is not
converted to methane
and instead recycled.
1000991 The converting may comprise use of a plasma process as described
elsewhere herein.
For example, the tires and carbon black can be fed into the plasma process at
a temperature of at
least about 1,500 degrees Celsius to produce the methane. The rubber of the
tires may convert to
methane more readily than the carbon black. For example, the feed of tires and
carbon black can
produce methane with a majority of carbon atoms that were previously in the
tires.
10001001 The methane may be used as a feedstock as described
elsewhere herein. For
example, the methane can be used to produce a carbonaceous product (e.g.,
carbon black). The
carbonaceous product may be produced substantially free of atmospheric oxygen
as described
elsewhere herein. The carbonaceous product may be produced with the aid of
electrical heating
(e.g., a plasma generator) as described elsewhere herein.
10001011 In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a
polymer article having a ratio
of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms greater than about 3*10^-13. The polymer
article may
comprise a carbonaceous product. For example, the polymer article can be
compounded with
carbon black. The rubber article may be a tire, a rubber article, a plastic
article, or the like, or any
combination thereof. For example, a tire generated from natural rubber and
carbon black made
according to the methods of the present disclosure can have a total ratio of
carbon-14 to carbon-12
atoms of greater than about 3*10A-13.
10001021 In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a feed
of biomethane. The feed of
biomethane may comprise greater than or equal to about 60% by volume of
methane derived from
a biological source. A remainder of the feed of biomethane may comprise
impurities from a
digestion process and/or one or more co-feedstocks. The feed of biomethane may
be used to
produce a carbonaceous product as described elsewhere herein. The carbonaceous
product may not
comprise the impurities from the digestion process. For example, the
carbonaceous product may
not comprise sulfur from a sulfur containing impurity. The impurities may be
removed from the
feedstock (e.g., the impurities may be filtered away from the feedstock prior
to use of the feedstock
to form a carbonaceous product). The impurities may be inert to the formation
of the carbonaceous
product. For example, a carbon dioxide impurity may not impact the formation
of a carbonaceous
product. In this example, the carbon dioxide impurity can reduce efficiency of
a carbonaceous
product production process by providing additional mass to heat that does not
in turn participate in
the reaction. In this example, removal of the inert impurity can improve
efficiency and reduce
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costs. The one or more co-feedstocks may comprise one or more bio-based co-
feedstocks, one or
more non bio-based co-feedstocks, or a combination thereof.
10001031 The following examples are illustrative of certain systems and
methods described
herein and are not intended to be limiting.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
10001041 CO2 is pulled out of the atmosphere and into a bio-
organism, such as, for example,
a plant or tree. That plant or tree then produces a digestible material. At
some point before it is
fully digested by the environment, this material is digested in an anaerobic
digester or similar, and
the resultant biomethane or biofuel is provided to a plasma process in
accordance with the present
disclosure. As a result of the plasma process, the carbon that was previously
in the atmosphere is
now in the form of carbon black and further hydrogen that was in the biosphere
is now in the form
of pure hydrogen gas. The carbon black may be sold, and the hydrogen may
either be sold for its
energy value, or provided or coupled to one or more other uses (e.g., as
described elsewhere
herein). For example, the hydrogen may be used make another chemical such as,
for example,
ammonia which has a variety of uses, including as fertilizer in agriculture.
Example 2
10001051 A tire, comprising (i) 30% by weight natural rubber from
the hevea brasiliensis or
rubber tree or the like that is significantly from a plant or tree, along with
(ii) 30% by mass of
biomethane- or biofuel-derived carbon black produced in accordance with the
present disclosure,
is recycled. The tire is recycled in such a way that it is used as a feedstock
for a process to make
carbon black in accordance with the present disclosure (e.g., a plasma
process). The resultant
carbon black has a ratio of carbon-14 atoms to carbon-12 atoms of about
8.1*10A-13 due to the
dilution of the other components of the tire that were derived from fossil
fuels.
Example 3
10001061 This example describes advantage(s) of a plasma process
in accordance with the
present disclosure over incumbent furnace process for carbon black, and steam
methane reforming
(SMR) and Haber-Bosch process for ammonia production.
10001071 Furnace process:
10001081 For 1.06 million tons of carbon black produced, 2.6
million tons of CO2 are emitted
into the atmosphere. This equates to 2.45 tons of CO2/ton carbon black. See
Orion Engineered
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Carbons 2018 Sustainability Report, incorporated by reference herein with
respect to relevant
portions therein.
[000109] Haber-Bosch with SMR ammonia:
[000110] Global production of ammonia of 157.3 million metric tons
in 2010 is associated
with CO2 emissions of 451 million tons in that same year. This is the
equivalent of 2.87 tons of
CO2/ton NH3. See C&EN "Industrial ammonia production emits more CO2 than any
other
chemical-making reaction. Chemists want to change that" June 15, 2019 Volume
97 Issue 24,
incorporated by reference herein with respect to relevant portions therein.
That being said, 1 ton of
CO2 is generated per ton of ammonia to achieve the temperatures and pressures
of the Haber-Bosch
process. This is the equivalent of 1.87 tons CO2/ton NH3.
[000111] Plasma process:
[000112] Wind energy used for electricity in the plasma process
generates zero CO2. CH4
from biomethane equates to the sequestering of 3.67 ton of CO? per ton of
carbon, such as, for
example, carbon black, if full theoretical yield of carbon is achieved while
utilizing renewable
resources.
[000113] Tons of CO2 emitted total for incumbent processes of one
ton of carbon black and
one ton of ammonia is 4.32 tons. For a plasma process that makes 2 moles of
H2, the amount of
carbon dioxide emitted goes up to 5.28 tons for the incumbent processes. If
tons of CO2 sequestered
due to the use of biomethane is also taken into account, then the differential
is increased to 5.28
tons plus 3.67 tons of CO2, or 8.95 tons of CO2, as a differential between the
incumbent processes
and the plasma process that utilizes renewable energy and biomethane as
described herein.
Example 4
[000114] An example of a plasma process in accordance with the present
disclosure is
schematically illustrated in FIG. 6. CO2 for this process is as described in
Example 3.
[000115] An example of a conventional carbon black process is schematically
illustrated in FIG.
7. From 2014-2018, U.S. carbon black production by conventional carbon black
process is
associated with average Scope 1 GHG emissions of 2.34 TCO?e/TCB. See Notch
Carbon Black
World Data Book 2019, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas
Reporting
Program (GHGRP) 2018 Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Large Facilities website,
Facility Level
Information on GreenHouse gases Tool (FLIGHT), each of which is incorporated
by reference
herein with respect to relevant portions therein.
[000116] An example of a conventional ammonia process is schematically
illustrated in FIG. 8.
From 2013-2017, U.S. ammonia production by conventional ammonia process is
associated with
average Scope 1 GHG emissions of 2.24 TCO2e/TNH3. See U.S. Geological Survey,
Mineral
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Commodity Summaries, February 2019, page 116, and Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA)
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) Industrial Profile: Chemicals Sector
(non-
Fluorinated), September 2019, page 11, each of which is incorporated by
reference herein with
respect to relevant portions therein.
10001171 Example 5
10001181 Carbonaceous products may have an adjusted ratio of carbon-14 to
carbon-12 atoms
even if a physical ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 atoms is different from the
adjusted ratio. For
example, a feedstock used to generate a carbonaceous product can be a
combination of feedstocks
sourced from different suppliers. A first supplier can generate the feedstock
via a fossil fuel route,
and the resulting feedstock can have a low ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12
atoms. A second
supplier can generate the feedstock via a renewable route (e.g., digestion of
plants, etc.), and the
resulting feedstock can have a high ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 atoms. The
first and second
suppliers can supply their respective feedstocks to a pipeline, where the
feedstocks are mixed, and
the resultant mixture has a lower ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 atoms (e.g.,
less than 3*10^-13).
The mixture may comprise more of the first feedstock than the second
feedstock, which may result
in the lower ratio.
10001191 The supplier of the renewable feedstock can provide environmental
credits that denote
the renewable nature of the feedstock. For example, the environmental credits
can be digital credits
related to the renewable nature of the feedstock. Examples of digital credits
include, but are not
limited to, certificates, non-fungible tokens, other blockchain based tokens,
or the like. The
supplier of the renewable feedstock can exchange or sell the credits. The
recipient of the credits
can, in turn, attest that they have purchased renewable feedstock, even if the
feedstock delivered
from the pipeline contains a mixture of renewable and non-renewable
feedstocks.
10001201 The feedstocks can then be used to generate a carbonaceous product.
The carbonaceous
product can have a physical ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 atoms that is less
than the ratio found
in the renewable feedstock. To calculate an adjusted ratio of carbon-14 to
carbon-12 atoms, the
physical ratio can be determined, and the ratio can be adjusted using any
credits purchased by the
producer of the carbonaceous product. For example, one ton of carbonaceous
product with a
physical ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 atoms of 5*10^-14 produced by a
producer with the
equivalent of one ton of renewable feedstock credits at a ratio of carbon-14
to carbon-12 atoms of
1.5*10^-13 can have an adjusted ratio of 1*10^-13.
10001211 Systems and methods of the present disclosure may be combined with or
modified by
other systems and/or methods, such as chemical processing and heating methods,
chemical
processing systems, reactors and plasma torches described in U.S. Pat. Pub.
No. US 2015/0210856
and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2015/116807 ("SYSTEM FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE CHEMICAL
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PROCESSING"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2015/0211378 ("INTEGRATION OF PLASMA AND
HYDROGEN PROCESS WITH COMBINED CYCLE POWER PLANT, SIMPLE CYCLE
POWER PLANT AND STEAM REFORMERS"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2015/116797
("INTEGRATION OF PLASMA AND HYDROGEN PROCESS WITH COMBINED CYCLE
POWER PLANT AND STEAM REFORMERS"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2015/0210857 and Int.
Pat. Pub. No. WO 2015/116798 ("USE OF FEEDSTOCK IN CARBON BLACK PLASMA
PROCESS"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2015/0210858 and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO
2015/116800
("PLASMA GAS THROAT ASSEMBLY AND METHOD"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US
2015/0218383 and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2015/116811 ("PLASMA REACTOR"), U.S.
Pat. Pub.
No. U52015/02233 14 and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2015/116943 ("PLASMA TORCH
DESIGN),
Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2016/126598 ("CARBON BLACK COMBUSTABLE GAS
SEPARATION"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2016/126599 ("CARBON BLACK GENERATING
SYSTEM"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2016/126600 ("REGENERATIVE COOLING METHOD
AND APPARATUS"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2017/0034898 and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO
2017/019683 ("DC PLASMA TORCH ELECTRICAL POWER DESIGN METHOD AND
APPARATUS"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2017/0037253 and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO
2017/027385
("METHOD OF MAKING CARBON BLACK"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2017/0058128 and Int.
Pat. Pub. No. WO 2017/034980 ("HIGH TEMPERATURE HEAT INTEGRATION METHOD
OF MAKING CARBON BLACK"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No. US 2017/0066923 and Int. Pat.
Pub. No.
WO 2017/044594 ("CIRCULAR FEW LAYER GRAPHENE"), U.S. Pat. Pub. No.
US20170073522 and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2017/048621 ("CARBON BLACK FROM
NATURAL GAS"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2017/190045 ("SECONDARY HEAT ADDITION TO
PARTICLE PRODUCTION PROCESS AND APPARATUS"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO
2017/190015 ("TORCH STINGER METHOD AND APPARATUS"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO
2018/165483 ("SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF MAKING CARBON PARTICLES WITH
THERMAL TRANSFER GAS-), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2018/195460 ("PARTICLE SYSTEMS
AND METHODS"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2019/046322 ("PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND
METHODS"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2019/046320 ("SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR
PARTICLE GENERATION"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2019/046324 ("PARTICLE SYSTEMS
AND METHODS"), Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2019/084200 ("PARTICLE SYSTEMS AND
METHODS"), and Int. Pat. Pub. No. WO 2019/195461 ("SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR
PROCESSING"), each of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
10001221 Thus, the scope of the invention shall include all modifications and
variations that may
fall within the scope of the attached claims. Other embodiments of the
invention will be apparent
to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and
practice of the invention
CA 03194711 2023- 4- 3
WO 2022/076306
PCT/US2021/053371
disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be
considered as exemplary
only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the
following claims.
36
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